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Sunday, 25 January 2015

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY: Self-Aware Mario

Photo via The Guardian.

German researchers have developed a version
of Super Mario Bros., that makes Mario self-aware. He is able to
experience emotions and act autonomously in response to them. The AI
also understands voice instructions and questions. It's sophisticated enough that Mario can be fed information that he will remember and eventually act upon it. There's a five-minute
video in Polygon that gives a detailed explanation of how this experiment works, have a look here. (E.T.P. 5')

And a nice article by our beloved Charlie Brooker in The Guardian: "This meta-Mario experiences basic emotions, is compelled to act by urges
such as “hunger” and “curiosity”, and is painfully aware that he only
exists within a meaningless two-dimensional artificial framework from
which he can never escape. As such, he’s more advanced than I am. And he
looks better in a hat. I think I hate him, although there’s every
possibility that’s just what I’ve been programmed to do." Read full article in The Guardian. E.T.P. 3'